Blaguarro Town Terminal Two Holding Cells

[Hap]

Maybe Ridley was being unreasonably Galarian about the topic of queuing, but traffic management and how to move large numbers of people through an area were a specific topic of research for a reason, and the reason was that having lots of panicky people in an enclosed space without proper direction was a recipe for getting those people hurt.

Of course, debating what to do about the prisoners when they were released was secondary to the current issue of hey, guards! Ridley wasn't an expert in the area of breaking into some assholes' base of operations to rescue the people they'd been torturing, but he figured he'd had enough experience with battles by now to have an idea of what he should do.

He inhaled, focused, and spat out clouds of smoke into the guards' faces.

Ridley used Smokescreen!

Hopefully his companions could take it from here.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven's eyes narrowed. So these guards were former townsfolk, not Cipher thugs. That changed things somewhat... It seemed like at least the Noctowl hadn't wanted to get dragged into this. Either way, they were still in the way of getting the prisoners out safely and had to be dealt with.

As Anite and Tala took up offensive positions, Steven held his ground at the cell he was in front of, working fervently to open the lock on diminishing time. There weren't any fully shadowed prisoners inside, and he spared them an apologetic look as he worked. We're going to get you out of here, I promise.

"C'mon, c'mon--" he muttered, feeling the lock's tumblers shift under his magnetism. If he could open one cell, then maybe they could use it to turn the tables if they got one of the guards inside...

He glared at the lock. This couldn't be more complex than the front door, focus. ...There! With a click and a thunk, the lock opened. Steven swung the door open and beckoned to the prisoners inside.

"Stay behind me, I'll get you to the exit."

One cell empty. And if the others could "coax" one of the guards inside, hopefully it wouldn't be for long.

 

[RJr3:2]

As the smoke filled the space, Aige took a mental note of where everyone was. Glancing over, she saw Steven near the cells- and as he unlocked one, she was fairly certain about what he was trying to do.

"If it works, it works," she murmured to herself. "I'll see if I can help any."

The Roggenrola took off running into the smoke, counting on her small size to render her relatively unseen to the opponents in the haze. After enough scurrying about that she was convinced that anyone paying attention to her would have lost track, she positioned herself between the open cage and the enemy.

Once Steven and the prisoners were out of the way, she gathered her energy and started launching rocks in their general direction.

'Let's hope for your sake that this works out,' she thought, 'If it were up to me, you would be good as dead.'

 

[Phoenixsong]

Aight, fine, so they probably shouldn't've shouted. (She hadn't been the first, though! If someone else is already doing it you might as well, right?) On the bright side, now they knew what kind of trash they had to take out.

"Keep talking to the noctowl," Leaf said to Grace, very admirably managing to keep her voice steady in spite of the krokorok's stupid face making her want to scream. "If he really doesn't want to be here I bet you can calm him down." If he really didn't want to be here then he was at least worth trying to calm down.

"You, though," she snarled at One-Eyed Joe, raising her voice a little so he could hear her over the sound of Tala ringing his bell. "Way I see it," she said, "cowards and traitors don't get to talk. You get to sit down and shut the hell up." She closed the distance, not even bothering to hide herself in the smoke—let the others sneak around to deal with the alarm or the noctowl or whatever, while she held this asshole's attention loud and clear—and swung her head around at the last second, the side of her horn slamming into his neck in a blazing bright clothesline.

Leaf used Radiant Throat Chop!

 

[Inkedust]

Sonora managed to escape notice as the Wayfarers and Blaguarro stirred up more of a fuss with their smokescreens and shouts, giving her the opportunity to do as she pleased. Steven faced a similar result with his lockpicking. Its resident, the scrafty from before, eyed the metang skeptically. "This ain't a bit? Yous ain't gonna lead me to that hell room, will ya?"

He eyed the ongoing fight. "Or maybe not. Got yerself any ideas on how to get through that?" he asked with a point of his thumb.

In the midst of the chaos, Mav was trying to call out to Reno, trying to reason that this was not him. Perhaps if the dodrio had some help in trying to break through to the noctowl, he could be talked down.

One-Eyed Joe, on the other hand, seemed to revel in the thrill of the fight. "Didn't take me so seriously before now, did ya, Tala?" he accused, using his heatseeking senses to try and negate the effects of the smokescreen. "Look at me now! How can say that this anything but an improve—"

Joe was abruptly cut off at Leaf's attack, not only that, but it hurt, so much more than an attack of that caliber should have. Tala gave Leaf an approving nod. "Been a long time since someone's shut him up like that. Gonna need to repay ya for that. Shame you're still just a kid, woulda offered you some free drinks at my place if you weren't— Watch out!"

Joe silently snarled and sprung for Leaf, jaws wide and aiming for any exposed part of her body, his shadows flaring as he entered a blind rage.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven eyed the partially Shadowed Scrafty with mild horror. "Hell room? What? No! We're not with Cipher. We're here to stop them. And get you and the others out of here."

He tried see if there was a clear path to the exit, but with the fighting and the smokescreen, it was impossible to tell.

"An idea?" he echoed, "Perhaps..."

There were only two guards, and their squad outnumbered them heavily. If the guards were neutralized, it'd be much easier to escort the prisoners to safety.

"We're working on it," he said to the Scrafty, eyes lighting up with an idea. "But maybe you can help us. Are these the only two guards you usually see down here? And do they carry the keys to these cells with them?"

 

[Inkedust]

Scrafty snorted. "Naw, not unless Joe runs his gob to call for backup but looks like yer horse-friend stopped that in its tracks. Fella somehow got more insufferable since he teamed up with these damned bottom feeders." Scrafty shook his head, trying to get away from that terrible buzz. "Reno's the one with the keys. Can't nick them when they're all tha way up there," he added, pointing to the top of the cages.

 

[Cresselia92]

The wing attack — or was it an actual Wing Attack? — took Silver by surprise, making him let out a startled and pained hiss. Growling in indignation, he swiped back with venom-drenched claws, barely missing the Noctowl but also preventing other wing-slaps.

‘Okay, that definitely hurt…’ he mentally grumbled, massaging the struck area. ‘I should’ve seen that coming.’

Though, he couldn’t focus any longer on the owl that the Krokorok approached him with an offer, one of those that someone couldn’t simply refuse.

"Pah! Wastes of my time, you though," he pointed at Silver with a claw. "I like you, how 'bout you ditch these losers and get on the winning side?"

Silver hummed and tilted his head, his eyes narrowed in faux contemplation. Winning side sounded cool, and his twelve-year-old self might have been interested. However, he wasn’t his twelve-year-old self anymore, was he?

“…Nah! In case you didn’t realize, I’m already on the winning side!” Knowing what was to come through Betel-network, Silver flicked his claws toward the Krokorok with a pistol motion, his smirk widening. “So long, sucker!”

Sfwoosh! The Smokescreen hit its mark and shrouded the area with a dark veil, giving Silver the opportunity to slip away without anyone noticing or hearing him through the noisy bedlam. Just like a ninja in a weasel suit, the now-Sneasel bolted deeper into the prison, using the noise of the alarm as his reference to pinpoint its location.

There was only one goal currently in his mind: finding the main box of the alarm system and disable it. Hopefully it wasn’t too late and they didn’t attract too much attention already…

 

[Jackie Cat]

Sonora smirked to herself at the sound of banter, moves and collisions. Those angels had this well in paw, and any additional help at this point felt almost like an unnecessary performance, but hey! Who was she if not a performer?

She'd hauled herself atop the cages, and now nimbly made her way across them towards the nuisance bird – the one the Blaguarrans were trying to reason with. As she did, she looked down at the cages on either side of her, trying to spot anyone she knew from Frontier Town, or that Seth guy's 'vee partners... That scarred Poliwrath with the thousand-yard stare was probably Bruiser Sully, who'd gone missing a while back during a 'mon hunt for him. The shivering mutt in the corner could be Granbull Bruce, though a shell of himself. There were a few Fiends gang Impidimp here and there, a black Rattata, a huddling group of terrified Maschiff... There sure were a lot of cells.

Don't think on it. The show must go on.

She perched herself atop the assembly of cages and waited for Noctowl Reno to come near enough, studying his flight pattern...

Just like watching birds...

She wouldn't really hurt him. Just rough him up a bit. Or a lot.

Don't think on it too hard. Just perform.

Sonora Radiant Focused...

"Howdy, turncoat," she drawled.

He looked up.

She leaped, her eyes shining in the darkness.

"Regards from the winning side!"

Sonora used Radiant Play Rough!

 

[Hap]

Sonora slammed Reno into the ground, as gleeful as any cat playing with a flying-type in Ridley's own world. The comparison left Ridley weirdly off-balance for a moment, but -

- Reno had the keys.

Ridley spotted something shiny and darted in to grab it, not caring overmuch whether he hurt Reno in doing so. There wasn't much space for delicacy in a battle, after all.

Ridley used Thief!

"Hey! Catch!" Ridley called, tossing the keys to a teammate.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven followed the Scrafty's pointing up to where the Noctowl was hovering high over their heads and over the smokescreen. But when he looked up, he saw something else move in the shadows even higher than the unsuspecting guard, and his eyes went wide.

Sonora.

Even in the gloom where she hid, Steven could see the little wiggle in her stance that told him Reno wasn't going to be unreachable for very much longer.

Reno swerved to avoid Aige's rock throw, and in that moment she pounced. Reno dropped like a sack of bricks. They hit the ground and rolled, Sonora nimbly tucking herself and springing clear, leaving Reno sprawled on the ground near the open cell door. Ridley pounced on the guard when he was down, retrieving something shiny from the bird's talons.

And Steven saw his chance.

He threw a claw forward, snagging the Noctowl before he could take to the air once more.

Steven used Telekinesis!

"No you don't!" he called, and with a grunt of effort swung his arm in the direction of the cell he'd unlocked, flinging Reno inside.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Well, he could still boost someone. As the snivy looked like she was about to attack before being interrupted, he figured she was his best bet. Silently, he willed energy towards her. That which gave more power. Hopefully that was the right choice.

Anite wanted to talk to them, did she? Perhaps they could, but for what purpose? They'd already made their choice, and now they had to live with it. Grace looked to continue chatting with Reno. Even if she did get through to him, he probably wasn't going to be regaining his job any time soon. Kimiko, meanwhile, joined the assault against Joe, who didn't seem to have the same reservations about attacking as Reno did.

As she did, she felt a surge of energy; Andre, lending her strength. She spared him only a moment to nod in thanks - and wonder why he was doing this; he had the same grass-type advantage she did - before launching her barrage.

Ridley was releasing plumes of smoke from somewhere (since when could cleffa do that?), which helped conceal her assault. She wasn't sure if the smokescreen in the air would hinder Joe's already limited sight at all, but at least she herself didn't need to aim, and it would make it harder to detect anyway.

"That the best yer got, girlie?" he taunted as he rushed through Kimiko's attack - though his grin was slightly strained as the attack did sting with Andre's help.

At that, she laughed, a single, sharp, piercing sound, meant to signal that she wasn't taking him seriously. "I don't need to waste my best on you." She launched another flurry of homing leaves into the smokescreen, which sailed easily around the giant horse in their path on their way to Joe.

Then, louder, she called out to her allies, "Someone needs to shut of that damned alarm!" Even if it had been too late to prevent reinforcements - if not an entire squad of backup, surely someone would be coming to check on the alert - it was really damn annoying.

They'd wanted chaos, and they certainly had it, now. Several things were happening around her; Silver, vanishing into the smoke (hopefully going to find that damn alarm). Grace, distracting Reno with chatter. A glowing Sonora, leaping from atop some cages, tackling Reno to the ground. Steven hurling Reno into a now vacant cage. Ridley tossing keys he'd stolen. All in all, it seemed like, so far, they'd had the situation pretty well in hand.

Meanwhile, her eyes found Sonora again... and she wasn't the only one. Leaf, too, was glowing. Was that why Joe was taking her attacks better? She wasn't immediately diving into abusing their new power?

Well, let them. Luz had warned of the dangers. Kimiko could still feel the tingle as the light inside burned, aching to be let out. But someone needed to keep a clear head around here... at least for now. So instead, Kimiko continued hurling leaves, trying to keep Joe busy. With Reno locked up, she and Leaf should hopefully be enough to keep him contained while everyone else set about freeing some prisoners.

 

[canisaries]

"Hey! Catch!" Ridley called, tossing the keys to a teammate.

Andre fumbled the catch, having had little time to react and vines that still weren't as good as hands, but he quickly picked the keys up off the floor and zoomed back to the cells he'd looked through to open the cages of the most lucid mon. "You're free now, go!" he would shout at every mon he managed to free, not sticking around to see their reactions.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf sprang sideways at Tala's warning, but the krokorok's jaws still slammed shut on one of her back legs. Pain shot through her, burned like the Wolf's attacks had burned, but she managed to lash out and kick him away. Don't worry about it. Don't let him hold you down. He can't hold you down. Keep moving.

Something in the back of her mind hissed at her to stop being stupid, to let Anite and Tala handle this, to brace herself in case he tried it again. She ignored it. The people who were actually here knew she was helping. They knew she was right. Anyone who wasn't even here shouldn't get an opinion. Focus on the people who mattered. Pin this jerk in place so everyone could let him have it. Dealing with one lazy, selfish coward was more than enough, anyway.

She cut around behind Joe, reared up, and brought both shining front hooves down on his back. "Wow, you really suck at listening. I said sit down."

 

[Inkedust]

Sonora easily downed Reno, the noctowl letting out a shrill screech, which distracted him from the fact that a certain mimikyu had nicked the cell keys off his person. Putting him in a cell was also trivial, Scrafty more than happy to do the honours of slamming the door in the bird's face with a mirthless smirk. That was one guard down and it seemed that the other would be joining him very soon.

Mav, however, was not happy at this development. "What did ya do?!" A cried out to the Wayfarers. "He's my friend! I was gettin' through ta him!"

"Save it fer later," growled Anite. "We don't exactly have the most time on our hands."

"He'll come 'round after a few drinks on the house," Tala muttered, reassuring the Wayfarers.

Meanwhile Jow, now pinned , was silently snapping and struggling out of Leaf's grip, wheezing as he tried to find his voice again. One more hit was more than enough to knock the krokorok out cold. That just left the matter of the alarm, which seemed to be located somewhere above the cages. Silver would find that following the source of the sound, while highly unpleasant to his ears as he drew closer, an effective means of finding the alarm. Breaking it was a mere matter of brute force and soon, the sound of the alarm had ceased.

It seemed that the operation was a resounding success had it not been for a single problem. Several of the prisoners were highly aggressive - happy to attack anything that came their way - and the blare of the alarm and sounds of the fight had set them off even more. Just how many more Shadowed 'mon could they take?

"Forget about them!" Scrafty yelled. "Let's just get outta here!"

 

[Magyk]

Reno being tossed aside and locked up was not what she'd wanted to happen! "Wait! Aren't they going to get punished for what we've done...?" she knew from experience that an upset boss was not something you wanted.

"Um... we need to take out the alarm! I'm gonna try something!"

What better time than now, anyways? Grace wanted to save those afflicted by Shadows. She'd decided that  that was her mission as her eyes lit up.

She had to help them!

"Please work!" she cried, as a pool of now shining, healing water formed in her paws. She went to the nearest prisoner, and...

Grace used Radiant Life Dew!

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

The cell door clanged shut. One guard down. A strangled Krokorok cry and Leaf looking triumphant. Two guards down. A moment later, sweet silence, as Silver reappeared with a smug look on his face. Alarm deactivated.

Steven looked up and down the rows of cells, watching as Andre dashed from cage to cage (mercifully skipping the ones with aggressive Shadow 'mon inside), unlocking them and ushering whoever was able towards the exit.

Steven regarded the Scrafty by his side. He was beginning to panic, and Steven couldn't blame him. "We're not leaving anyone behind, but it's a good idea. You should take everyone who's free and go."

"Mav! Anite!" Steven called to the two of them. "Do you know the way to the surface? Can you escort these people all the way out of the base and back to Blaguarro? They'll need guidance and protection, and we have unfinished business here. Can we count on you?"

Swiftly, he made his way to the exit and pulled out his list, checking off names and scribbling down ones he didn't already have as the evacuees filed by. The fewer innocents caught down here with the aggressive prisoners, the better. So many names.

"When they're safe, if you're able to come back, we'll probably need your help with more." He spared a nervous glance at the rows of cages, many of them still locked. So many names still left.

Fixing Mav with a serious look, he said, "And don't worry, we're not going to leave Reno here either. He's your friend, we're going to help him, too."

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Well, that certainly had not been how Kimiko had anticipated this break-in to go... had none of these people known what 'stealth' means?

Her eyes landed on Sonora and Silver, and well, at least they knew how to hide when it mattered.

As the smokescreen dissolved into the air and the battle concluded (and Silver mercifully shut that damned alarm off), Kimiko allowed herself a moment's rest, leaning against a wall and sliding down to the floor. Thankfully, no one else had (as of yet) come to check on those sirens; she hoped it was because those who normally would have were currently being beaten to a pulp by the other squads. From her resting spot, she watched Andre releasing some of the more coherent prisoners, while Grace attempted to soothe some of the more aggressive ones.

"We probably shouldn't leave him here, either," she added, to Steven, gesturing with a vine at One-Eyed Joe. "He and Reno are locals, so if nothing else, they should be given over to Anite."

With Steven taking control there, Kimiko wandered towards Grace and the prisoner's cages, figuring she might as well help with the shadows. The water the togetic was producing caught her eye - it glowed, as if imbued with-

Oh. Radiance countered Shadow.

Well, she hadn't needed it to help take down Joe (because she did help, damnit), but if ever there was a time to give it a try, now was it. Her eyes closed, and she started to sing; a wordless, soothing melody, something upbeat but relaxing. Truthfully, she was making it up as she went. At the same time, she envisioned that light inside, burning bright, and felt it's warmth at her throat. It... seemed to be working; her voice, at least to her ears, sounded strangely ethereal. Powerful. With any luck, it would help cut through even the more fevered prisoners. Anything to get them calmed down enough to help out.

As she walked along, he eyes opened again and she inspected the cages, looking for two specific 'mon in particular; she'd not missed The Wolf- no, Seth - joining them on this mission, and thanks to Bee's network had some idea as to why. He was helping, whether because he found common ground with the party or simply because this had always been his target, she didn't know. What she did know was, his 'vees might be in here somewhere. Wouldn't it be nice to find them and reunite them with their trainer? Their friend?

 

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf snorted and stepped over Joe's twitching form. He was down, and about damn time, but there was still so much more to do. Still so many shadow pokémon in the cages, sobbing and shrieking and thrashing even after the alarm had gone quiet. (Chewing at the bars, trying desperately to get out even after all the suffering they'd been forced to endure. She had to get them out of here. They couldn't just keep sitting here.)

The noctowl'd been stuffed into a cage to settle down, and that'd gone about as smoothly as you could expect. Not even a little bit, in other words. He was flailing around just as bad as the rest, feathers everywhere, absolutely up the cell walls. But Grace was busy, and Mav was getting ready to dive back into the tunnels, and everyone else was doing what they could but they needed more.

She moved closer to the cell and set her horn shining again, tried to beam calming thoughts (or instructions, or whatever) the noctowl's way. Not that she was feeling super calm herself, not when everyone was still stuck and what if there were more further in, but that just meant she had to concentrate real hard on getting him back on his friend's side.

"Hey. You want out? Sit still for a sec and breathe. Settle down and you'll feel better. You can help us and Mav make sure you and everyone else gets out of here."

 

[Inkedust]

The prisoner's snapping at Grace's approach calmed as the Life Dew washed over them. The maschiff was still antsy but no longer past the point of reason. It seemed that Radiance could work to ease away the Shadows of the prisoners although the team would still need to be careful lest they set them off again.

"Mav does," Anite answered Steven, jerking her head towards the glowering dodrio. "He's gonna need to if we wanna get out of this place at all, ain't that right?"

Mav huffed. "Only if we get Reno outta there. Otherwise, I'm staying!" To emphasize their point, Mav plopped himself on the ground, refusing to get up at any further prompting." Not even Anite could make him budge.

Tala, meanwhile was focused on Kimiko. "I can handle him," said the kommo-o. "There's a couple holding cells in Blaguarro, though barely anyone gave a damn about using them these days. Think Joe would be right at home there."

Meanwhile, Reno was struggling to remain conscious yet the look he gave his attackers held nothing but contempt for them. "Why should I listen to you?" he spat, his feathers puffed out, defensive. "I'm just doing my fucking job and what do I get for it? Beaten up an' shoved in a cage. Aye, Reno is such an easy target, ain't he? Gonna happily lay down and take it then kiss the dirt you walk on." He leaned back and wheezed. "What, ya think I'm gonna take you at your word 'cause Anite, Tala and Mav are here with ya? Get real."